The Quad
by IanLevitt
Summary: Guinevere is in Storybrooke. Guinevere is under an aging curse. She misses home. Guinevere reminisces. Storybrooke, Maine is mentioned; not much of a crossover, but a lot of Merlin/Gweon/Elyan mushiness.


She saw them everywhere nowadays.

Hanging out on street corners and causing havoc at their own expense; chasing her across blank pavement, shouting and screaming and laughing; simply joking around and playing with her. All these minor things, they'd possibly never do again. Gwen couldn't do anything about it. She was a helpless, bemused little girl, both mentally and physically.

She laid across her bed that day, determined to just reminisce on what used to be; what would be again, if she became older once more and helped Merlin and Morgana get them home safely. Gwen snuggled into the sheets, finding them warm and welcoming but still not right. The young girl tiredly peered over at the painted walls of her apartment and willed the images out; it didn't take long for them to come to her. They whisked her away into another world, one only accessible by sleep now. And she let them.

✖ **Camelot, Several Years Ago**

"Elyan! Elyan!"

A brown-haired, Goldilocks-looking boy stepped forth from the shadows of his large home and hissed at her. He nodded simultaneously, toward the alley adjacent to the front door. Gwen took a hint and scurried over, following him into near total darkness. She wasn't some stupid, flimsy girl, and so obviously, he wasn't a stranger.

"Gwen, you don't want to get us caught! Do you?" The lad raised a challenging brow, and Guinevere shook her mat of tangled curls. "Then stop yelling for your brother as if you're some damsel!"

Guinevere's hooded eyes caught flame and she focused once more, leaning against the stone wall that flanked them. "Don't you dare call me a damsel, Leon! If you didn't want me on your team, you could've joined my brother and Merlin."

"But...but you would've been alone!" He spluttered stupidly, shocked at her admonishment. Of course Leon knew that Gwen was more capable of handling herself than any other minor in all of Albion; however, he never failed to get caught off-guard when she implied not needing a hero. After all, Leon was to become a Knight of Camelot sometime in the near future, and such a thing would intimidate any nobleman.

Despite the awareness of precisely what was going on in her friend's head, Gwen's eyes continued to glitter with malice. She lowered her voice, faintly picking up the sound of hooves close-by. "Why's it matter to you, Leon? You aren't a knight yet."

"Yes, yes, but you're my - !"

"Mistress?"

"Future lover?"

"Housewife-to-be?"

Leon gave an apologetic look as Merlin and Elyan's presence was made clear. He stood upright, puffing out his chest and tried his best not to laugh. "I was going to say friend, you clotpoles."

Elyan and Merlin exchanged looks of disbelief, then shrugged in an overly-satisfied, creepy, and synchronized fashion. "Whatever you say, Sir Leon." They were the ultimate and only supporters of a Gwen and Leon marriage, and had been from day one.

"You are such boys sometimes," Guinevere stated matter-of-factly, as she stood and dusted off her skirt. Like they could ever be anything more. Her expression was expectant once she glanced over at her comrades. "Are you going to imprison us, or are we allowed to make a run for it?" Before either of them uttered a word, she already knew the answer.

"Go ahead, run!" Merlin chided, having the go of a warlock to back him up in this situation.

"You know we like a chase," Elyan agreed, and took a step in the opposite direction so that Gwen and Leon could get a head start.

Said pair peered over at one another and shrugged, sprinting back out the way they'd entered. "C'mon, Leon," Gwen murmured, glancing up at the sky. The clouds were rather moody today; she planned on taking advantage of the bipolar weather this time instead of arguing over the heroic credibility of a knight. Leon simply followed suit, growing into his new role very quickly: the one who shut up and listened, and assisted in battle alone.

The couple hurried down aisles and shortcuts and stands until they made it to Gwen's home, which wasn't as far away as they made it seem, with all their huffing and puffing. Playfully, Guinevere nudged her partner-in-crime, right in the ribs, and at his sound of pained anguish, she grinned, "Knights can't save damsels until they can run a mile without almost passing out."

"Hey!" Leon attempted to stand again, but his stomach doubled over and he bent over again. Rolling her eyes, Gwen knocked on the door to her own home, hearing the sounds of a man's boots seconds later.

Tom opened the door; first, a puzzled look escaped him, and then he smiled mischievously. "It's about to rain."

"I know," Guinevere muttered, evilly.

"Where's your brother? And Merlin?"

She shook her head in an innocent manner, and Tom fought hard in order to keep from cackling. "I suppose we can't have you and Leon waiting, not while they're out doing God knows what."

"Right." Leon and Gwen murmured in unison. They watched Tom walk off as if he'd seen, said, and heard nothing, exchanged a look or two between one another, and finally entered Guinevere's home as the rain began to pour down, more heavily than usual. Footsteps accumulated outside, along with the hysterical voices of two abandoned adolescent boys. All Gwen and Leon could do was laugh.

✖ **Storybrooke, Present Day**

The soft, melodic pitter-patter of the rain molded into her very being, putting her mind at rest at least for now. A rare smile crossed Gwen's face, and she looked peaceful and absolutely beautiful at rest. One could only guess that they were the reason. Those three - no, four - silly boys in Camelot, a triad of which she'd left behind.

She saw them everywhere nowadays.

But it wasn't the same.

**OOC - so it's not ****too AU; she just thinks she grew up with Merlin when we all know she didn't. Poor Gwennie - her life is a lie XP.**


End file.
